The re-election of Barack Obama either marks the end of the “culture wars” which have dominated recent decades of US politics or the start of an even more fiercely fought conflict.

The re-election of Barack Obama either marks the end of the “culture wars” which have dominated recent decades of US politics or the start of an even more fiercely fought conflict.

The Religious Right was born when Supreme Court rulings drove Christian conservatives into the political arena.

State-sponsored prayer in schools was ruled unconstitutional in the early 1960s, just as the country was facing an atheist superpower in the form of the Soviet Union. The 1973 establishment of a constitutional right to an abortion cemented fears that a secularist elite had gripped control of the country.

President Reagan succeeded in bringing many religious conservatives into the Republican tent but legislative attempts to roll-back perceived secularist advances failed. The focus then switched to ensuring that conservatives would be appointed to the Supreme Court.

During the Bush era, activists hoped that the landmark abortion ruling would be overturned. Now there is deep anxiety that President Obama will appoint judges who will take forward liberal values and a fear they have lost the public argument.

Ed Stetzer, an influential Christian commentator, said: “We must face the reality that we may be on the losing side of the culture war... [Voters] in more than one state appear to have clearly passed referenda supporting gay marriage.

“This marks the first time for any state to legalise same-sex marriage by the expressed will of the people rather than through court rulings or legislation.”

This contrasts with the excitement of New York Times columnist Frank Bruni: “Tuesday night was what history looks like: the passage, for the first time, of same-sex marriage by popular vote; the reelection of the president who became the first to support same-sex marriage; the first-ever election of an openly gay or lesbian person to the US Senate.”

The scene is set for religious polarisation and conflict but an irony is that Mr Obama has brought some of the most explicitly Christian rhetoric to the presidency.

In Easter 2010, he described his amazement at the Biblical account of the empty tomb, saying: “We are awed by the grace he showed even to those who would have killed him. We are thankful for the sacrifice he gave for the sins of humanity.

“And we glory in the promise of redemption in the resurrection.”

In 2011, when he spoke of the “unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection” it sounded like more than a calculated soundbite.

There is a potential for a conversation about a shared commitment to justice, equality and the common good. It may be good news for all Americans if the war is over.

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